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Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2013
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Despite this confirmation from lowcostusa I still didn't believe it. Turns out I was right - I emailed the Cosmo direct and asked, the answer was "If you reserved after December 1, 2013 the resort fee is mandatory for all guests".
So fight with lowcostusa on my return after I've paid the resort fee that they have repeatedly told me is non mandatory.
If it helps anyone looking to book The Cosmopolitan we found the best rate for our dates on LowCostUSA, at the time their website mentioned including taxes but didn't mention including resort fees. I didn't book with them because you had to phone them on 0845 519 2002, I wanted to do it online.
Its just me....I can't be bothered speaking to people.
Their rate also didn't mention free breakfast at The Wicked Spoon. Something we have cleared up here more or less.
Your paperwork either has to state you are entitled to free breakfast, or you have to be lucky. Booking directly on The Cosmopolitan website includes free breakfast on certain deals.
I'm guessing LowCostUSA don't generate a webpage with their lowest rates for The Cosmopolitan to stop people using them to obtain a price match on Marriott site.
My next best room rate was through Virgin Holidays which at the time stated the rate included taxes, breakfast and resort fees.
My intention was to book on Marriott.com then claim on their price match using their online form plus jpegs for LowCostUSA and links to Virgin Holidays, and E-bookers which was also cheaper than booking directly, and included free breakfasts.
I found it difficult to book exactly the room we wanted for our dates, a One Bedroom Balcony With Fountain View.
So I contacted Cosmo by e-mail, and enquired also about whether the resort fee is optional.
In a nutshell, their reply was the resort fee is not optional, so I gave up on The Cosmopolitan and booked The Palazzo ( having established their resort fee is optional ).
I spent a good amount of time checking the deals everywhere and for my dates, LowCostUSA price match with Marriott.com was the way to go, or next best price match Virgin Holidays.
Unless anybody can tell us different the resort fees will be charged whoever you book with is my feeling.0 -
secretmachines wrote: »I was pricing up a stay at Vdara the other day, and that averaged at about £80/night (even with the hotel directly)....
I would be canny and then email Vdara in advance of your trip and say you would like to have a couple of surprises waiting for your new wife: flowers, chocolates, etc... That way you're not saying "hey Vdara, it's our honeymoon, upgrade us!", but with the type of customer service you get there, I'd be very surprised if they didn't reply and offer to upgrade you... at the very least they'd have a note on the system and will probably upgrade you at check-in - especially if you mention it in conversation (no need for $20/$50 trick).
Having taken a fair amount of time to look for the best room rate for Vdara, I found the best deal by joining MGM loyalty program MLife.com.
After registering I received special offers for booking directly on Vdara website.
The next lowest rates were by registering for the unlisted deals on SmarterVegas.com, and clicking through them to the Vdara website.
Nowhere else came close to these deals, and I looked everywhere.
For our dates we found $89 plus tax, plus $28 resort fee plus tax ( which we didn't mind paying as it includes two bottles of water and a newspaper, given the overall deal thats OK although I try very hard to avoid resort fees ).
This rate also included a $75 dining / beverage credit.
The room type was their standard room " Deluxe Suite ".
Being in the mode for e-mailing other hotels I sent one to Vdara enquiring enquiring if any upgrades were possible as it was a special occasion.
I phrased it light heartedly stating the special occasion was that we were in Vegas, nothing more special than that !
Vdara came back with a special rate for their DeLuxe Lake View Suite, their Corner Suite or their Executive Corner Suite.
We plumped for the Corner Suite and agreed to pay $30 more.
Have stayed at Vdara before and really like it, so very happy with this deal.0 -
City Center is the worst concept Vegas designers ever came up with. (Just my opinion)
We don't go in it that much, however had some good cocktail service at Cosmopolitan so perhaps will visit more often. :beer:
When I think of what it replaced, The Boardwalk and maybe some shops or something. It's pretty ok compared to what was there. I do love the themed hotels though, so would probably have liked more of that instead.0 -
Wendell_Pierce wrote: »
I spent a good amount of time checking the deals everywhere and for my dates, LowCostUSA price match with Marriott.com was the way to go, or next best price match Virgin Holidays.
Unless anybody can tell us different the resort fees will be charged whoever you book with is my feeling.
I agree too, no escaping the resort fee.
If it helps anyone I price matched through Marriot with a netflights quote. They were the cheapest I could find.
I remember seeing something on tripadvisor about the Marriot not pricematching lowcostusa? Can anyone clarify this?0 -
Thanks for the Priceline info Lesley, very useful.
If Trump is classed as "North strip vicinity" it should be fairly easy to avoid it.
The rooms there do sound nice, but I don't like the location and it has just never appealed to me.
I did use Priceline for Vegas yonks ago, so long ago that I can't remember where we stayed, but it might have been the Encore.
As for City Center............... Prince Charles's comments about a carabunkle, etc fit it perfectly. I hate the look of the place although the hotels, etc inside it are really nice.0 -
There's a separate selection now on Priceline which is only for 5* Condos. So you would have to choose that to end up with Trump.
Here's the current grouping for Priceline. I think 5* North Strip is a very attractive grouping!!
Las Vegas (Strip North)
5* Palazzo REVIEW
5* Venetian REVIEW
5* Wynn REVIEW
I'm very timid about Priceline / Hotwire, I like to know exactly where I'm going.
This is very good info, it wouldn't matter either of those three for a good room rate.
Even Trump if I could get to the bottom of self-parking availability. I know it says valet park only, but if there is convenient self park nearby, say, Fashion Show Mall, it would be OK.
Preferred.com had Trump for $79 plus taxes, plus resort fee plus taxes, with a dining/beverage credit. Which is a good rate, but I can't be bothered with valet parking.0 -
I agree too, no escaping the resort fee.
If it helps anyone I price matched through Marriot with a netflights quote. They were the cheapest I could find.
I remember seeing something on tripadvisor about the Marriot not pricematching lowcostusa? Can anyone clarify this?
I tried on 2 different occasions to price match with marriott for lowcost and they on both occasions came up with some very strange prices which they claimed to be from the lowcost website, they were higher than the marriott site so stated they couldnt price match.
Ive also tried to match with virgin and they stated couldnt find a matching room for this booking?
I gave up after that, this was all last year so may have changed but doubt it, think its luck of draw who you get doing your pricematch!0 -
I realise some may not have clubcard vouchers, or may not want to stay at any of the places, but just thought I'd post this in case it helps someone.
I think that's a very good deal for those who can use it...sometimes I wish we had a Tesco nearer than a Sainsbury's.Does remembering a time that a certain degree of personal responsibility was more or less standard means that I am officially old?0 -
secretmachines wrote: »I was pricing up a stay at Vdara the other day (can't afford the flights at the moment, but I like putting together dummy trips... I'm sure I'm not the only one... I hope!), and that averaged at about £80/night (even with the hotel directly) so would fit in your budget. With Vdara, even the entry level rooms are suites (not huge on a suite scale, but definitely a couple of stages up from regular hotel rooms).
I would be canny and then email Vdara in advance of your trip and say you would like to have a couple of surprises waiting for your new wife: flowers, chocolates, etc... That way you're not saying "hey Vdara, it's our honeymoon, upgrade us!", but with the type of customer service you get there, I'd be very surprised if they didn't reply and offer to upgrade you... at the very least they'd have a note on the system and will probably upgrade you at check-in - especially if you mention it in conversation (no need for $20/$50 trick).
But even if you bummed out and kept the entry-level deluxe suite, you wouldn't be disappointed.
You'd probably have a better chance of success of the above if you book direct with the hotel.
Yeah was thinking the Vdara would come in around my price range, seems to get good reviews also, definitely worth a look.
Yeah was planning on asking for some extras to be placed in the room wherever I choose to stay and offer to pay for those extras myself and see if I have any luck regarding an upgrade etc.
Will definitely keep the Vdara in mind, Going Tues to Sat so only 1 weekend night (Fri) which will hopefully keep the costs down.
Was that direct through Vdara you were getting those prices?
Thanks for the reply0 -
Yeah was thinking the Vdara would come in around my price range, seems to get good reviews also, definitely worth a look.
Yeah was planning on asking for some extras to be placed in the room wherever I choose to stay and offer to pay for those extras myself and see if I have any luck regarding an upgrade etc.
Will definitely keep the Vdara in mind, Going Tues to Sat so only 1 weekend night (Fri) which will hopefully keep the costs down.
Was that direct through Vdara you were getting those prices?
Thanks for the reply
- lowcostusa / netflights came out about 10% cheaper than other outlets
- booking direct, Expedia, hotels.com, booking.com all came out pretty much the same
- ebookers was more expensive0
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